Just For Fun: A Certain Style

"Debates are a part of the campaign which the media thrives on. They are like a group of vultures waiting to prey on a dying animal." KY

"Bush rehashed speeches from his 1988 campaign in between reminders, for anyone who still cared, that he was the one who put us in the Gulf to begin with, and kept looking at his watch. This conveyed the attitude that he had better things to do than run the country." IN

"Bush said that this election was a question of character. This held true for the vice-presidential candidates, the question being which of the Sunday funnies did each escape from? Quayle dished out more of his Mayberry morality, becoming the biggest national embarrassment to the midwest since the Chicago Cubs. Senator Gore looked like at any given moment his torso might start swiveling from side to side, arms flailing, while shouting: 'Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!' Admiral Stockdale, the saddest casualty of the Washington bloodbath, resembled a Maytag repairman, seated between Gore and Quayle. If viewers felt anything toward him, it was not confidence in a potential leader, but pity. By the time the debates were over, all of the candidates had more faults in them than the state of California!" IN

"If the growing beast of the networks is not soon tamed, we can realistically look towards an end to the human opinion." IL

"(An) effective solution is for the public to top regarding the press as an omniscient, omnipresent entity of unparalled power." KS

"Bush had previously learned from former president Ronald Reagan's campaign that in order to win an election one has to throw large amounts of mud toward Dukakis in order to keep himself clean. This is exactly what he did. Dukakis had initially planned to avoid getting muddy but in the end he watched his polls drop drastically." KY

"(The media) seems to have brainwashed our country and filled many voters' heads with mud." KY

"Our nationwide media tree has definitely lost a lot of its branches. The respect for their honesty and promptness can no longer be appreciated." SD

"For better or worse, the inextricable link of media and public office, persistent since the dawn of our nation, will most likely continue to profoundly effect the American political system in the coming century. While it is quite true that the ultimate end in theory of all communications is education by information, in retrospect or contemporary research one must not discount or downplay the sheer magnitude of calculated sway the media holds over the general public. To question the nature of this beast, who is growing and changing with each passing minute, is a venerable task. Its difficulty lies in choosing top dog--who stands tallest in the new American synthesis of politics and media." CA

"In this day and age of modern communication, is it not reasonable to be provided with all of the possible choices? Instead of receiving the full picture, America is given two or three more popular, wealthier figures to choose from. This whole situation can be compared to going to a restaurant and being told that you can eat anything that you choose. The waiter caters to your desire and brings you a menu with three items on it. If the customer wishes to know what else is available, he cannot be told because the waiter does not even know. The media is a bad waiter, but the American public still leave large tips and regularly attend the same restaurant." CA

"Thus the public will be able to make a calm, reasoned and fair choice about their future representatives in government instead of being eaten by the current feeding frenzy." AR

"To express personal opinion, one must vote, and add a voice to the song of democracy. Viewers who change opinions along with every new guest commentator on television are singing out of tune. Readers who allow biased articles to change their minds have jumbled the lyrics. Listeners that allow themselves to be swayed away from their views are singing in the wrong key. To sing the melody purely and simply means to ponder the individual candidate's qualifications, stand on important issues and, yes, past performance. Taking part in the strains of the Hymn of Freedom includes backing away from the dark influences of yellow journalism and tabloid-like reporting used by the ratings-hungry news media of today." IL

"The strongest arm of the media has now become the television, drug of a nation. Its side effects defy classification, it mimics cocaine, crack, alcohol, cannabis, and LSD, and it is user-friendly." CA

"Does the country really "inhale" all of these vicious attacks? Of course it does. Our American society has gradually conditioned one to greedily thrist for these juicy stories." PA

"Our media's role can be compared to that of a sculpture's. The power to shape the nation's mind is delivered into their outreaching arms. When researching the candidate's past, they act as the sculpture kneading the clay. Flattening...pressing...wrenching, they test the consistency of the candidate. Then they begin to put life into the limp form. Through shaping and molding, the masterpiece is progressively developed. As a people we look to the media with awe, anxiously awaiting the finished product. Sometimes the candidate is polished and well-spoken of. Sometimes the candidate appears worn and dull. Sometimes the candidate is disfigured. But the sculpture had the ultimate control - the control to destroy the clay and begin again. We play the role of the critics who decide what is 'good' art. In making this decision the media plays a very delicate role." PA

"(Regarding TV!) Procrustean programming removes the necessity for individual thought; it seeks to lobotomize unsuspecting viewers and hush the grass roots revival with corporate automation...People may talk of a poppy field in Colombia and of war in another world but I say to you the battle for the control of your mind and body is being fought in your own home, on your couch, in your hands, by remote control." CA

"Can the roaring lion of the media be pushed back into its cage?" OK